Issuer: Endesa
Date: June 1998
Amount: Pta1.3 trillion ($8.9 billion)
Global coordinators: Argentaria, BBV, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, Santander
The successful sale of the Spanish government’s remaining 41% stake in the privatized electricity company Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (Endesa), for Pta1.3 trillion ($8.9 billion), can be seen as a symbol of Spain’s economic resurgence in the late 1990s. Not only was Spain one of Europe’s best performing economies last year, it has left the rest of southern Europe standing, with the pace of its privatization programme. Domestic and international investors alike showed their confidence in June as the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (Sepi), the state holding company, pulled off the largest Spanish privatization to date.
A huge retail offering to domestic investors provided the backbone for the deal. More than 1.3 million Spaniards applied for shares, attracted by an extensive media campaign as well as the prospect of a 3% immediate discount on the shares and a bonus payment worth a further 3% if investors held onto their shares for six months. That tranche raised Pta826 billion, with a further Pta45 billion coming from a Spanish institutional tranche.